Utility vehicles, or “utes”, also known as pick up trucks, pick ups or simply trucks, typically comprise a cabin for the driver and one or more passengers and a tray mounted to the chassis behind the cabin for carrying and storing loads. The trays are provided in a wide variety of designs including flat trays, trays with side and end walls, which may be hinged and trays comprising storage compartments on top of and/or underneath the trays. Often the trays are enclosed with a canopy, which protects the contents of the tray from the elements, provides additional storage volume and improved security. Canopies can be factory fitted or retro-fitted to the tray and are available in a range of styles and designs. The term utility vehicle will be used hereinafter, but it will be appreciated that such references also include pick up trucks, pick ups, trucks or any other vehicle to which a canopy can be affixed.
The canopies that can be retro-fitted to the trays of utility vehicles are typically designed for the particular marque (make) and model of utility vehicle and therefore are only available in standard sizes. Canopies are typically made from sheets of steel welded together to form the finished canopy. Alternatively, the canopy is thermoformed from suitable plastics material, such as ABS. Therefore, another problem is that the finished canopies need to be transported from the manufacturing point to the retailer or the customer, which incurs significant transport costs due to the size, shape and mass of the canopies.